"Consistency of care concerns"

I recently attended the Maternity triage at Forth Valley for concerns over reduced foetal movement. This is my third pregnancy so I’m well aware of normal baby movement and what to expect.

For context, I have been diagnosed with anaemia and as I cannot tolerate iron tablets, I’ve had to work hard to try and up my iron (despite an iron rich diet). But I have felt quite unwell for weeks and never had this in my previous pregnancies.

The night I visited, I had felt so lethargic myself, having had to rest all afternoon on the sofa and could barely feel any movement for hours and going into the early eve. I phoned and they said to come in… rather reluctantly, after informing me how busy they are. I was also questioned on the phone as to the extent of movement I was feeling; I don’t think this should be questioned at all as the guidelines are that it’s a change to your baby’s normal pattern (ie this baby has a posterior placenta so I can feel movement throughout the day, whereas my previous pregnancies had anterior placentas where minimal movement was felt throughout).

So, I arrived already feeling like a nuisance. I had to wait for 45 minutes in the empty waiting room (despite being told how busy they were) before I could be seen. I was met with a rather cold midwife who could not be faulted for doing their basic duty (ie strapping me up to the heart monitor and checking my blood pressure), but they very much gave the impression that I was a nuisance wasting their time. There was no concern expressed at the lack of movement for hours or my own general health… As I said, it’s my third pregnancy so I’m not unaware of foetal movement and who wants to go to triage on a Sat night for fun?! 

I had asked if the nurse could see the recent blood results taken by the midwife a week ago to check if my haem had fallen even lower as no one had uploaded the results to Badger… the second time this has happened, the first indicating was I quite anaemic and no one phoned or followed up so I had a month of becoming increasingly unwell until I ended up at my GP severely dizzy and fatigued where I was diagnosed. FYI… not great care. Anyway, the response was that that isn’t really a triage thing….

Well what is?! Surely a very anaemic pregnant women reporting with reduced movement (and a higher risk pregnancy due to my age), might indicate there’s a link? Maybe not, but it’s at least worth checking.

Thankfully I was reassured enough by the heartrate and some movement felt during foetal monitoring, but it absolutely was a case of abnormal reduced movement for me that afternoon and early evening. It is so important that women report it and aren’t made to feel like they’re being a nuisance on a busy ward as we all know of women who sadly waited too late to report it. 

I think all midwives should be made aware of their attitude, language and communication to any mother reporting with reduced movement as it would make me consider whether it’s worth being made to feel like a hypochondriac to report it again. 

We all have bad days at work and technically this midwife did everything clinically correct to do their job but conveyed a message of time waster through their body language, communication, tone and lack of empathy.

Although this is just one instance, I had a similar experience in my first pregnancy when I had to visit for reduced movement so I don’t think that midwife’s general attitude would be an isolated one. I think it’s an area that needs to be reviewed for how midwives treat women reporting with it.